Process of purifying crude hydrocarbons.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES. E. smo'nrson. or nnxvrnnm'wrsconsfrn.

r'aoonss or rumrxms ,cnunn nxnnocn'nnons.

1,276,284. No Drawing. To all whom it mac concern:

Be it known that James E. .Tnomson, 'a' citizen of the United States, residin at Mayville, in the county of Dodge and tateand particularly to a process of this char! acter which has for its end, the removal of I matter which renders these crude hydrocar- 'bo'n's unfit for commercial use.

Specifically, the object of this invention is to provide a process for treating one of the waste products of coke ovens, namely,

the product known as CS benzol (that is product for use m the commercial arts.

A further object is to provide means for re-' covering from the waste product so treated,

sulfo-cyanid of ammonia, sulfids, etc;

A further object is to provide for deodorizing the'p'urified material by the processabove referred to.

Otherobjects will appear'in the course of the following description.

One of the waste products tion of coke is a hydrocarbon, known as CS benzol. This product is at the present time of no commercial value, because of the inclusion therein of a large amount of impurities. These impurities consist chiefly of carbon bisulfid, sulfureted hydrogen, and sulfo-cyanid compounds.

My improved process consists in adding to the light oil, thatis, such a hydrocarbon as CS; monia of such' strength that the specific gravity on the solution is as low or lower than that of the light oil which is being treated. Because the specific gravities of the two liquids are approximately the same,

or because the ammonia solution is less in specific gravity than the light oil, the two solutions will mix without agitation and the. ammonia w1ll chemically combine with the I impurities and this chemical combination, which is expressed by-the equation increases the specific gravity of the com bination of the ammonia and the'im urities,

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Application filed m 25, 1917. Serial no, 182,721.

in the. produc-.

enzol, an aqueous solution'of am- Patented Aug. 20, 1918.

bottom of. the containing vessel, together With all water and waste. This water,

- waste, and the ammonia solution can then be drawn off. The light oil, which is now above the ammonia solution, is thus free from objectionable matter and can be used in the arts. It is not only free from the objection of the impurities, but the-light oil is deodorized. purifying crude semi-refined hydrocarbons,

It will be seen that by using an ammonia solution of correct strength, the ammonia will thoroughly mix with.light oil and thus does away with the necessity of agitating or churning the light oil and the ammonia, and further it will be seen that redistilla tion is not necessary in order to separate the light' oil from the combined ammonia and impurities.

It is furthermore to be noted that at the same time that the light oil is relieved ofits impurities, such by-products as sulfoc'yanid. of ammonia and other'sulfidsmay' be recovered.

While this process is particularly adapted for the removal of im urities from (ZS benzol, yet I do not wlsh to be limited to purifying only this material, as other hydrocarbons containing the benzene ring may also be purified bythis process.

The chemical reactlons between the solution of ammonia and the impurities in the CS benzol are somewhat complicated .andobscure. The. impurities probably exist 'as compoundslof the benzene series, but may contain the methane and ethane. The .ma-

terial treated CS benzol is also known as first runnings that is, when the light oils are distilled, the first part of the distillate is rejected and contains a great deal of the N) =ammonium cyani One of the most important reactions 1s (3) Phenyl, mercaptan (O,H6HS)+am-,

monia in solution (l T]Fl -{-H henol (c H OH) +ammonium sulfid As to the strength of the solution of ammonia, this should be-25% or higher. As

a Ammonia NH -|-h droc anic acid d 4 on NH, s.

the compounds are formed and some am- -monia escapes, the aqueous solution settles solution which settles to the 0 tank contains sulfocyanid of ammonium,

to the bottom of the tank, as it is then slightly heavier than the light oil. The ottom of the as there is a slight loss of ammonia. lit is to be remembered, of course, that the chemistry of the benzene series has not been entirely worked out and that the impurities inthe light oils may vary greatly but the equations before given are approximately correct as far as they go.

Having described my invention, what If claim is 1. The process of purifying hydrocarbons containing the benzene ring which consists in mixing therewith an ammoniacal aqueous solution having approximately the same specific gravity as the hydrocarbon.

2. The process of purifying hydrocarbons containing the benzenev ring consisting in mixing therewith an ammoniacal aqueous solution having a specific gravity not greater than the specific gravity .of the hydrocarbon.

3, The process of purifying hydrocarbons containing the benzene ring consisting in mixing therewith an aoniacal aqueous solution having a specific gravity not greater than the specific gravity of the hydrocarbon, allowing the impurities which combine with the ammoniacal solution to naraaea purified hydroto sink and then withdrawing the purified benzol.

5. The method of purifying hydrocarbons containing the benzene ring consisting in mixing with the hydrocarbon an aqueous solution having a specific gravity not greater than the specific gravity of the hydrocarbon which aqueous solution will chemically combine with the impurities in the hydrocarbon and increase the specific gravity of the solution so formed and then drawing ofi the superimposed relatively lighter purified hydrocarbon.

6. The process of purifying CS benzol consisting in treating said product with an aqueous solution of ammonia having a speclfic gravity not greater than the specific gravity of the benzol, allowing said solution, to combine with the impurities in the benzol, then allowing it to si and then withdrawing the superjacent purified benzol.

In testimony whereof ll hereunto a my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES E. THOlMUPSUN,

Witnesses: v

Lnorn H Acnnnrran, L. lil. 

